Iris by Henry Herman Evans

Iris by Henry Herman Evans

Iris

Henry Herman Evans

Title

Iris

 
Artist
Year
1966  
Technique
color blockprint 
Image Size
9 3/4 x 13 1/2" image size 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
58 of 62  
Annotations
pencil titled, dated, and editioned 
Reference
 
Paper
soft, antique-white Japanese wove 
State
published 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
DASL246 
Price
SOLD
Description

Henry Evans, an early printer/publisher in San Francisco, founded Peregrine Press in 1949. In 1958 he began creating his own botanical subjects, eventually doing over 1400 images, which he printed with the assistance of his wife Marsha on a 1852 Washington Press.

Here, he depicts a lone iris, leggy and in full bloom among its fanning leaves. Evans strove to maintain the barest simplicity with his floral images, rendering them nearly scientific in form but always maintaining their beauty and elegance. Only two colors are used for “Iris”, lavender and deep grass green, and he focuses on the way that the plant grows - akimbo, nearly awkward, but charming to the last.

This color linoleum blockprint by Henry Evans is from a collection of one of his early San Francisco collectors, all of which were purchased from him between 1964 and 1970. They have never been framed and the colors are as fresh as when they were printed.